AbstractHistoryArchive Description

This is the seventh in a series on pioneers and explorers. It tells of Peter Lalor and the Eureka Stockade and about Charles Joseph Latrobe, who although an opponent of separation from New South Wales, became first Lieutenant Governor of the new colony of Victoria when separation was granted in 1861. That year gold was discovered at Ballarat and Bendigo. Latrobe's harsh and stupid treatment of the miners eventually led to an uprising. Peter Lalor proclaimed an area of about one acre as a republic. Eventually the military stormed this Eureka stockade and thirteen miners were captured and imprisoned. Lalor escaped and in 1866 was elected to the legislative assembly.